Nikolay Chernyshevsky
Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a Russian revolutionary thinker, writer, and critic born in 1828 in Saratov. He pursued an education at St. Petersburg University, where he became involved in radical politics and developed a keen interest in realism and its relationship with art. Chernyshevsky's early career included teaching and writing for the influential journal Sovremennik, where his controversial views often clashed with established literary figures, including Leo Tolstoy. His advocacy for social reforms, particularly the emancipation of serfs, led to his arrest in 1862 and subsequent imprisonment.
During his time in prison, Chernyshevsky wrote his most famous novel, "Chto delat'?" ("What Is to Be Done?"), which became a significant text in revolutionary thought. After being exiled to Siberia in 1864, he continued to write, producing works that critiqued prevailing theories like Darwin's natural selection. His later years were spent in Astrakhan, where he continued to engage with philosophical ideas until his death in 1889. Chernyshevsky's contributions to literature and social thought have left a lasting impact on Russian culture and the intellectual landscape of his time.
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Subject Terms
Nikolay Chernyshevsky
Revolutionary Democrat
- Born: July 12, 1828
- Birthplace: Saratov, Russia
- Died: October 17, 1889
- Place of death: Saratov, Russia
Biography
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was born in Saratov on the Volga River in 1828. His father and his mother’s father were both Orthodox priests; not surprisingly, Chernyshevsky had early thoughts of entering the seminary. His father maintained a good library and Chernyshevsky became an avid reader. Chernyshevsky learned several languages by the time he entered St. Petersburg University in 1846. There, exposed to radical politics, Chernyshevsky closely followed the uprisings taking place across Europe.
Upon graduating in 1850, Chernyshevsky took a teaching job in Saratov, where he met and married Ol’ga Sokratovna Vasil’eva, over his parents’ objections. Chernyshevsky returned with his bride to St. Petersburg, where he began a master’s degree in literature. His thesis asserted that art should reflect reality, bringing Chernyshevsky into direct conflict with his adviser Aleksandr Nikitenko, and the minister of public education, Avraam Norov. Esteticheskie otnosheniia iskusstva k deistvitel’nosti (the aesthetic relations of art to reality) ultimately saw publication in 1855, but not before Chernyshevsky had garnered so much attention for his controversial aesthetic that his defense was delayed. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was his the most prominent critic.
With an academic career sabotaged, Chernyshevsky began writing for the journal Sovremennik, which had been founded by writer Alexander Pushkin. His views on realism drove off numerous contributors, including author Leo Tolstoy, leaving Chernyshevsky with increased editorial responsibilities. Chernyshevsky acquitted himself with insightful critiques of Tolstoy’s work, and gave name (internal monolog and dialectic of the soul) to the psychological struggle crucial to understanding Tolstoy. By 1860, when Sovremennik published Antropologicheskii printsip v filosofii (the anthropological principle in philosophy), Chernyshevsky had done much to resurrect the prominence of Belinsky and Pushkin. Chernyshevsky’s writing endeared him to young and liberal Russians, but alienated him from the establishment. Chernyshevsky agitated in essays for full emancipation of Russian serfs, articles that lead to his arrest in 1862.
While in prison, Chernyshevsky wrote the novel with which he is most frequently identified, Chto delat’? (what is to be done?), published in Sovremennik in 1863. Even though Chto delat’? was approved by censors, its publication may well have been a setup orchestrated by the government to strengthen their indictment. Trumped up charges of producing a radical tract sympathetic to serfs sent Chernyshevsky into Siberian exile in 1864.
While in Siberia, Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky wrote Prolog (prologue), published in 1868. By 1883, the government eased Chernyshevsky’s sentence, moving him to more temperate Astrakhan. It was in Astrakhan that Chernyshevsky published in 1888 “Proiskhozhdenie teorii blagotvornosti bor’by za zhizn’” (the origin of the theory of the beneficence of the struggle for existence) in Russkaia mysl’ (Russian thought). The work critiqued Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Chernyshevsky died in 1889.